Washington DC building air conditioning

[h***@bbs.cpcn.com]

A recent issue of Invention & Technology had an article
on the development of air conditioning. By the 1930s,
Carrier had developed and installed practical systems
to air condition buildings. By those years it was
common to have air conditioned movie theatres. Most
Pullman cars were air conditioned by that time.

I was wondering how many buildings were air conditioned
in Washington during the war years. While I presume
most were not, I gather from misc readings that some
new buildings were indeed air conditioned; for example,
the new State Dept Bldg in Foggy Bottom. I believe one
of the apts the Truman family resided in was air conditioned.

Washington DC in the summer is hot and muggy. Before
the war, Washington was a sleepy little southern town
that didn't do much during the summer years. The War
(and New Deal) changed all that. While a/c was new
and expensive, the productivity gains and comfort
from a/c was significant and perhaps justified its
wartime installation.

Would anyone know if the Pentagon was originally air
conditioned when built? Was the White House after
the extensive Truman rebuild air conditioned?

Thanks.

[public replies only, please]

See:
http://www.inventionandtechnology.com/xml/2005/4/it_2005_4_feat_2.xml
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[brandon]

I would like to know wether Hitler bunker was airconditioned or there
was simple ventilation using only a blower?

On one hand air conditioning would need enormous power which could have
been difficult using the diesel generator on which the bunker depended
during the final months. On the other hand without airconditioning the
bunker would have been subject to extreme heat and extreme cold as it
was buried deep under the soil.
--

[n***@hotmail.com]

I think your last point is in error: facilities deep underground are
NOT
subject to extreme heat and cold. They need ventilation, of course,
but as a rule don't see large temperature fluctuations.

EGF
--

[Michael Emrys]

On the other hand without airconditioning the bunker would have been subject
to extreme heat and extreme cold as it was buried deep under the soil.

On the contrary, soil temperature is very stable once you get more than a
couple of feet down. It would certainly require ventilation, and if there
was lots of heat generated within the bunker in excess of what ventilation
could carry away, then air conditioning would be needed too.

Michael
--

[Tank Fixer]

In article <d45u7q$slo$***@gnus01.u.washington.edu>,
on Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:58:50 +0000 (UTC),

Post by brandon
I would like to know wether Hitler bunker was airconditioned or there
was simple ventilation using only a blower?
On one hand air conditioning would need enormous power which could have
been difficult using the diesel generator on which the bunker depended
during the final months. On the other hand without airconditioning the
bunker would have been subject to extreme heat and extreme cold as it
was buried deep under the soil.

No, buried structures have pretty much a constant temperature. Somewhere
around 58F IIRC
The main benifit of AC would be humidity control.

[Don Phillipson]

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
I was wondering how many buildings were air conditioned
in Washington during the war years.

Hardly any, it appears. Instead (I was told when working
there in 1975) buildings erected in the 1930s were typically
massive (thick walls etc.) so as to absorb heat in the
daytime (shielding people inside) and cool down overnight.

Except as an expensive luxury, office buildings were
designed with air conditioning only for functional reasons,
typically the first computers built in the 1950s. In Ottawa,
Canada, the first government building designed with air
conditioning was the administration building of the
National Research Council, complete 1962, because
there was a large main-frame computer in the basement.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
--

[Carey Sublette]

<***@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message news:d4467b$isb$***@gnus01.u.washington.edu...
...

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
Would anyone know if the Pentagon was originally air
conditioned when built?

...

Some time ago I looked at "The Pentagon: The First Fifty Years" by Alfred
Goldberg (1992, Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense) - an
informative glossy color large format book - which I obtained through
inter-library loan (and thus can't easily refer to), and I am pretty sure
A/C was part of the original design - duct work, and locations for the
equipment installation, etc where included during construction. Whether A/C
was actually installed throughout at the time is less likely due to war
material conservation (this strongly influenced the actual construction -
many modifications were made to conserve metals).

This URL gives a nice brief account of construction, and seems to imply A/C
was installed:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/pentagon.htm

Carey Sublette
--

[Carey Sublette]

<***@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message news:d4467b$isb$***@gnus01.u.washington.edu...
...

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
Would anyone know if the Pentagon was originally air
conditioned when built?

...
http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/vignettes/vignette_34.htm
Office of History Vignette No. 34
"On Thursday, 17 July 1941, he summoned two of his subordinates, Lieutenant
Colonel Hugh J. Casey, also an Engineer officer, and George E. Bergstrom, a
prominent civilian architect, and told them that by Monday morning he wanted
basic plans and an architectural perspective for an air-conditioned office
building to house 40,000 workers in four million square feet of space, not
more than four stories high, with no elevators.
...
The basic shell and roof were finished in one year, and the building was
completed by 15 January 1943. "

http://renovation.pentagon.mil/history-renovation.htm#hrp
The History of the Pentagon Renovation Program Development

"The original Heating & Refrigeration Plant (now fully demolished) that was
built in 1943 provided utility services (heating steam and chilled water) to
the Pentagon as well as to other parts of the Pentagon Reservation."

So, yes.

Carey Sublette
--

[Scott M. Kozel]

Post by Carey Sublette
http://renovation.pentagon.mil/history-renovation.htm#hrp
The History of the Pentagon Renovation Program Development
"The original Heating & Refrigeration Plant (now fully demolished) that was
built in 1943 provided utility services (heating steam and chilled water) to
the Pentagon as well as to other parts of the Pentagon Reservation."

I've read the cites that you posted, but I am not convinced that they
definitively say that the Pentagon building was air conditioned, at
least not on a widespread basis.

The multi-ring design of the building, the high ceilings, and the large
high windows, all look like non-A/C building design to facilitate fan
ventilation with all of the offices in relative proximity to the
windows. Many buildings in that era and previously, in the D.C. area
and in cities further down South, were built that way and without A/C.

The following source mentions a heating and ventilating plant, but does
not mention air conditioning.

"The Pentagon Building (1941-1943)", from _The History and Heritage of
Civil Engineering in Virginia_, by J.C. Hanes and J.M. Morgan, Jr.,
1973, Virginia Section of American Society of Civil Engineers.

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/VASCE-History/VASCE-Pentagon.htm
http://sections.asce.org/virginia/History_heritage/History_heritage.html

[Andrew Clark]

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
Was the White House after
the extensive Truman rebuild air conditioned?

It certainly was not before 1945. Churchill complained of
the heat when staying at the White House in 1941, 42 and 43,
and on one occasion "strained his heart" attempting to open
a window.

--

[Jarg]

Post by Andrew Clark

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
Was the White House after
the extensive Truman rebuild air conditioned?

It certainly was not before 1945. Churchill complained of
the heat when staying at the White House in 1941, 42 and 43,
and on one occasion "strained his heart" attempting to open
a window.

Of course he was well insulated.

Jarg
--

[h***@bbs.cpcn.com]

Post by Andrew Clark

Post by h***@bbs.cpcn.com
Was the White House after
the extensive Truman rebuild air conditioned?

It certainly was not before 1945. Churchill complained of
the heat when staying at the White House --

I found some additional information:

1) In a Life Magazine comemorative now on sale, it mentions
that a White House office annex building was air
conditioned in the early 1930s. FDR had a working
office in there (I'm not sure what that space is
referred to today, but Life had a detailed map of it.)

2) The Stadler Hotel was built around 1940 (Brinkley
says they had to scrounge for materials then be
careful the military didn't commander the hotel for
themselves) was air conditioned. It was widely used
for functions during the war.

3) The assembly workshop of the Manhattan Project
on Tinamen island was air conditioned, undoubtedly
grabbing the attention of the other soldiers there.
(However, from readings I sense that the workshops
at the Trinity test site were not air conditioned
and they suffered with intense desert heat.)

4) IBM air conditioned a new research lab in Endicott
NY in the 1930s. In contrast, the workers at the postwar
Univac lab in Philadelphia worked in intense heat from
both the weather and vacuum tubes, and worked in their
underwear. (IBM employees in those years were expected
to wear conservative starched collars by contrast.)



My first guess is that given Washington's steamy
summers, more buildings would be air conditioned,
esp those housing high level critical functions.
However, a/c was still a rarity back then and
people probably saw it as a luxury they could suffer
without. Buildings too were designed for better
natural ventilation. Work hours may have been earlier
in the (ie 6am start) to beat the heat.

Further, I presume scarce war materials were diverted
to more pressing uses rather than air conditioning;
whatever refrigeration equipment was built was reserved
for critical functions like food storage.
--

[Steve Sundberg]

[snip]
I was wondering how many buildings were air conditioned
in Washington during the war years. While I presume
most were not, I gather from misc readings that some
new buildings were indeed air conditioned; for example,
the new State Dept Bldg in Foggy Bottom. I believe one
of the apts the Truman family resided in was air conditioned.

David Brinkley wrote an excellent book on the growth of Washington,
D.C. during the war years: Washington Goes to War. He describes the
city as generally being hot and muggy during the summer months, which
was the main reason why Congressoriginally would take a long summer
vacation. Much of "old" D.C. in the prewar days would shut down for
the summer; the invention of the air conditioner changed much of that.
If you get the chance, borrow a copy from your local library and give
it a read.
--